Proposal to CSTO colleagues to discuss situation in Afghanistan - Putin
BISHKEK. May 28 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said he expected most urgent issues, Afghanistan included, to be discussed at the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) informal summit, which opened in Bishkek on Tuesday.
"I strongly expect that we will look at how the situation in Afghanistan is evolving today in an informal environment and at what we have to do to respond to the situational change there in order to ensure the security of our countries and our nations," Putin said.
The Russian president said that the CSTO played a considerable role "in ensuring stability in the zone of its responsibility."
"The activities of its political and military structures, firstly the Collective Rapid Reaction Force (CRRF) and CSTO peacekeeping force, are aimed at this," Putin said.
Putin said that the CSTO regularly held joint drills (Interaction 2012 in Armenia and CSTO peacekeeping force in Kazakhstan).
The Russian president said that the CRRF drills would be held in Belarus in 2013 and peacekeeping force's in Russia at Chebarkul range in the Chelyabinsk region in October.